Hay crops are harvested using machines that collect and create bales that are dropped on the field. The bales are then loaded on hay wagons or flat bed trucks and taken to another location for storage.
While some hay bales are small and weigh only 60-80 pounds, efficiency and economics require the production of significantly larger bales that weigh up to one ton. The standard "large" bales are rectangular in shape and have dimensions of 4.times.4.times.8 feet.
Because of the size and weight of these large bales, there is a need for a vehicle that can load, transport, and unload the bales in an efficient manner. In particular, the number of bales loaded and transported needs to be maximized, while concurrently minimizing the loading and unloading times. To maximize the load, insure even weight distribution, and make unloading easier, the bales must be compactly stacked/arranged in multiple layers on the vehicle, with the sides of the bales substantially flush with one another. Some operations simply use forklifts to load the bales. However, this method is cumbersome and time-consuming because a forklift can pick up, load, and position only one bale at a time. Further, when attempting to arrange the bales into a large stack, forklifts have difficulty stacking large bales on top of or next to each other, such that the bales are aligned properly. Proper alignment is important so that stacked bales do not tip over in time.
The present invention is a self-propelled hay bale retriever and stacker ("retriever/stacker") that solves the above problems by providing a mechanism for loading and aligning the bales on a bed of the retriever/stacker. Among other things, the invention has a set of railings and racks that align the bales as they are loaded. The invention also has a loader that can easily and quickly deposit the bales on to the bed of the retriever/stacker. With these features, the invention dramatically improves the loading and unloading time. Further, because of the improved design, the retriever/stacker can maximize the load of bales: two layers of large bales, with each layer having five bales. To the inventors' knowledge, there is no existing apparatus or vehicle that can accomplish this.